Spark-plug tester.



D. L. WINTERS. SPARK PLUG TE STER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. I9i7.

Paten ted Jan. 8, 1918.

.IJNITED sTATEs' PATENT orator.

DAVID I1. OF 2HILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SI'AfBK-PLUG TESTER.

"which may be conveniently carried in .ones

ocket for the pur ose of testing and clean mg spark plugs various sizes,- as 'well as testing the st'ren th of the battery. 1

One of the ob ects of the present inven-' tion is to provide a simple and practical device of the above general character which 'will be inexpen ive to manufacture. A furfat ther object is to provide a device of the above character which will be reliable and eflicient in use and operation. A further object is to provide a spark plug' tester so constructed and "arranged as to permit the testing 'iof batteries and strength of the current made thereby, A ifurther ,object is to provide a s rk plug tester in which the spark gap o the plug may be measured. A further ob'ect is to ovi'de a plug tester of material w ich may lie used to cleanthe spark plug electrodes.

Other objects will be in part. obvious. from the annexed drawings-and. in part indicated in connection therewith by" the following analysis of this invention.

"This invention acoordinglyconsists in the features of construction, combination of arts and inthe unique relations of the memers and in the relative proportioning and p disposition thereof, all more completely Outlined herein.

'To enable others skilled in thea-rt so fully to comprehend the underlying features there-- of-thatthey embody the same by the numerous modifications in st ucture and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been an: nexedasa part of] this disclosure, and in such drawings likecharactcrsof reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views in which- I Figure l is'a perspective view showing, one

manner-of-ilsing the device in testing spark Fig; Bis a detail sectional view;

Inclination of Letters raten't.

' Applihltlon flied Kay 22, 1917. Serial No. 170,234.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the adjnstability of the terminals; j

Figi' fi is a perspective view the device.

Referring now to the draw ngs iiijdetail and more particularly to Fig. 1, the-device is shown in connection with the. spark plug Patented Ja s, 1913.

of a gasolene engine and shows thexnanner" of testing the same. In this figure, .5 represents the upper part of the cylinder of a gasolene engine provided with a spark plug 6 having a bindin post or terminal 7 at the "RPM Pa me an h usual. electrodes 8 and 10 at the bottom within the cylinder.

The device as herein shown employed for testing the spark com rises a body member 11 prefera' ly formed of two thicknesseszof emerycloth, sand pa B1, Orthe like. I prefer to-use emery cloth or the reasons that it isof insulating material, second, 'provides' a -dark back ground to bettershow the spark and, third, it has an abrasive surface whereby the terminals may be more easily cleaned as will hereinafter appear. Between-the. edges of these members are mounted two ieces of flexible sheet metal or other suita'b e conducting material 12, ex tending beyond the periphery of the body member 11 any desiredemount. I prefer thatthese pieces 12 be made of pliablesheet copper preferably oblong in. shape, as indi cated by the dotted lines, They are securely held between the two thicknesses of emery cloth 11, with corners 13 closely adjacent eacliotherand forming ai -spark gap. These corners may be bent away from each other, as shown in'Figs. 4 and 6, to increase the spark gapif so desired. The parts 12 are of such length as to conveniently contact-With opposite parts of any size spark plug and the sharp edges thereof will cutthroughdirt as I and grease to make a good contact therewith. In use and operation an ed'gfeiofone of the.

members 12 is placed in cont-act with the binding post-'7v while a corner of the other member 12 is brought-into engagement withthe cylinder shell'or nut holding the spark plug in place. In this manner circu'itis substantially established except for the small spark gap between the corners 13 of the members 12-, at whiehpoint the spark will be observed. One or'b oth of the parts 12 may be'cut'as indicated at'l l'to facilitate bending.

' The device as herein shown may convoniently operated as above descrlbedfor the purpose of testing'the spark plugbutit will beyond the marginal edges thereo be clear that it has other advantages or the emery cloth of which the bodyof the device It will be noted that this body member is of two thicknesses, that is the right-hand side is merely the two thicknesses of emery cloth and forms one gage, while the other side, where the members 12 are embedded, will constitute a thicker gage, for the purpose of measuring the distance between the terminals 8 and 10 of the spark plugs. It is well known that it is highly desirable to have a uniform distance between the termina'ls of the several 5 ark plugs, in a motor having a lurality of cylinders whereby the hi best e ciency may be obtained.

l rom the above it will be clear that the present invention is directed to a simple, ractical and inexpensive device particuarly adapted for gaging, cleaning and testing spark plugs and circuits, and it is thou ht will accomplish, among others, all

of t e objects and advantages herein set forth.

-I realized that considerable variation is possible in the details of construction and yangement of parts without departing. ,rom the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not intend to limit myself to the specific form shown and described.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is.

1. An article of manufacture com rising a body formed of a plurality of thic nesses of insulating material having flat separated electrodes embedded between'and projecting their entire length.

2. An article of manufacture comprising two sheets of material havinga rou hened abrasive outer surface between one si e ed e of which are embedded two pieces of flexib e electrical conductors providmg a spark gap therebetween.

3. An article of manufacture com rising two thicknesses of insulating materia one of which is provided with an abrasivesurface, and two spaced electrodes positioned therebetween having ortions extending beyond the periphery 0? said insulating material adapted to be brou ht into contact with the spaced elements 0 a spark plug, said dovlce also constituting a gage for spacin and cleaning the terminals of said spark p ug.

- 4. An article of manufacture comprising a double thickness of material having a roughened abrasive outer surface and having one side edge conc'aved toward the center, two ieces of flexible conductin material associated with said material an spaced apart to form a spark gap, the adjacent ends of said conducting material being an larly disposed with relation to each other w ereby they may be bent to increase or'diminish the space between them to re ulate the length of the spark ap so formed.

5. Anartic e of manufacture comprising a body member of insulating material, and having one end of concave form, and two flat conducting members -attached thereto and extending beyond and below the same,

with the extended parts thereof adapted to be held against the electrically spaced parts of a spar plug, and the spaced apart inner ends adapted to form a spark gap to test the condition of the same.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature inpresence of two witnesses.

' DAVID L. WINTERS. Witnessesr EMILY F. CAMP, K. E. KLEINQ 

